you're an odd bunch, see
by the good old days
Summary: A collection of crack pairings. Two people who were never meant to be. Requests are always taken. Fourth: Hades and Hera.
1. my sleeping beauty

my _sleeping beauty_  
—HypnosAnnabeth. "You are my goddess," he murmurs as she flinches.

* * *

He steals her away in a cloak of darkness, a mask of slumber, and weapons of memory.

Hypnos has been watching her for some time now—observing her from a distance, flickering in her dreams, slowly slipping the memory of Annabeth Chase from people close to her. No longer can Grover Underwood remember his first encounter with a young daughter of Athena. Percy Jackson cannot remember his first argument with his once-rival. In the Underwood, Luke Castellan watches with sad eyes while a god laughs.

And Annabeth Chase—she, for once, is aware of nothing.

.

She wakes up in a plush bed and is aware of two things: a sleeping god, and goose feathers.

Annabeth Chase's mind races a mile a minute. At first she believes that the man is Percy Jackson—but no, his skin is far less tan, muscles not quite as tense. As for the goose feathers, well, they're quite soft.

The full moon glows on her, a soft yet brilliant sort of light. "O, Mother," she chimes softly, "give me wisdom. O, goddess of the moon, give me strength."

And the man moves.

.

He summons a cup out of thin air. "Care for a drink, darling?" he asks in a melodic voice. She stares at Hypnos' hands—they are long and lean, definitely strong. Unsure of the significance of this, she looks at his face. His blue eyes and babyish face emulate a soft glow—powerful, sort of innocent, and strikingly beautiful.

Then Annabeth Chase realizes the man asked a question, and shakes her head. "I don't drink."

The man laughs—again melodic, and beautiful. "The moon is beautiful, no? Quite like you. Somehow, I am most powerful when Artemis is her at her fullest. Odd, do you think?"

Annabeth Chase stares blankly at him. "But you're not—"

"Apollo?" he laughs. "No, I am no Olympian, my dear. Do you wish for a hin—"

Her jaw drops. "Hypnos!"

"You win," grins, and swoops down to capture her lips.

.

Hypnos had assumed that the girl would push him off, reject him—however, this is not so. She simply does not react.

"Oh, goddess," he murmurs against her prominent cheekbones, "why must you act so?"  
Annabeth Chase flinches.

.

"Why are you so obsessed with me?" she asks him. He laughs.

"You make my love seem rather malevolent, sweet." Annabeth Chase scowls. "I do not mean to offend you," he murmurs softly.

"Still," she says, "I had a life before you. You would take that away from me?"

Hypnos caresses her cheek, silken skin. "Of course," he states simply, "I love you."

Annabeth Chase disagrees. "If you loved me—if you really did, then you would have let me live normally. You would not have stolen me away." She starts adopting his formality easily, clearly her mother's daughter. "It was not an honorable deed."

He laughs softly then, a tinkling sort of laugh. "I have never been one for those, have I?" Hypnos starts playing with her golden curls. "No matter, I will not hurt you. Nothing will hurt you with me. Not even nightmares—never again will you be tormented so."

He thinks himself Annabeth Chase's savior. While he was studying her so meticulously, Hypnos seemed to have forgotten that no daughter of Athena will ever need one.


	2. choking on my broken glass

_choking on my broken glass_  
—HephaestusDrew. She is the only one to ever believe he is beautiful.

* * *

"Do I know you?" girl asks, twisting her head sideways.

"Perhaps," man answers mischievously. "I believe you have heard of me, have even met some of my children and—ah, relatives."

Girl hides her surprise. "Maybe you should—remind me of them, since they seem to have escaped my memory." Girl takes a step closer, a seductive vixen.

Man just turns away.

.

She traces his scars with her fingers. Her feather-light, fleeting touches are like a tiny breath, heartbeat, kiss.

"You're lovely," she says truthfully, quietly.

He glares down at her, searching her eyes. She smiles up at him prettily.

"I'm telling the truth."

"I don't believe you," he growls. It's not a surprise, considering his past and his character and his lineage.

"Why not?" asks she ever so innocently.

"Because nobody could ever love me."

.

"I would love to be courted by a god," she says suddenly, out of the blue. Man stares at her oddly.

He raises his eyebrows. "Yes?"

"Mhmm." She pecks his nose like a secret. "I suppose it's working?"

"Mm, not quite."

.

He's awkward and cold and harsh and not used to being loved. She's wicked and loving and pretty and head-over-heels in love. It's a wonder they function at all.


	3. this could be the end of everything

_this could be the end of everything_  
—ClovisRachel. So, if you have a minute why don't we go somewhere only we know?

* * *

~i've taken your requests into account and sent the prompts & this kind of sucks & it was written a long time ago & i love you guys so much & kbye~

* * *

Has anyone ever told you that nothing is as it seems?

That's because nothing ever is.

.

"I'll see you tonight," he whispers mischievously, and she shudders.

.

If you—dull you, prying you, mental you—have not already realized, Clovis visits Rachel as she dreams.

It's not technically breaking any vows and sons of Hypnos spend over half their lifetime asleep, anyways. Although, that's neither here nor there. Apollo either doesn't mind this loophole or is unaware of the nightly trysts.

Being a son of Hypnos has so many romantic perks in the dreamworld—although sometimes control never works. Clovis can choose any location he wishes—real or otherwise—to spend with his lover. There can be food or music or candles or castles.

Perfection is simply a state of being.

.

_If you have a minute why don't we go_, she sings softly, _talk about it somewhere only we know? This could be the end of everything._


	4. betrayals of thy heart

_betrayals of thy heart_  
—HadesHera. If I had my way, darling, you would be my wretched queen. / for WildCitrusSunflower

* * *

Once upon a time, a godling is born. He is the first and oldest of his siblings, and thus eaten first by his one and only father. This child-but-not-a-child-but-not-a-man god is lonely. He is so lonely, in fact that he is named Hades, for "the unseen".

Once upon a time, the unseen godling becomes his own company. He fashions his father's lungs into his best friends, and his heart for his wife. Their company is pleasant enough, and it doesn't make him feel odd for reciting his poetry out loud. Sometimes the murmurs of his pretend wife makes the godling sob. Other times he wishes to rip the thing out and smash it with his own fist, for the beat of the living being who traps him drives the godling half mad.

But no—once upon a time this son was too compassionate for his own good.

.

Once upon a time, a goddess is born. She, too, is eaten, and joins the godling. He has grown in maturity and loneliness, though those are barely noticeable in change, if at all. This goddess is not bright and bubbly, nor ill-tempered or easily stirred. She is quite the lady.

Once upon a time, this goddess is surrounded by her sisters; she is the youngest, so naïve and innocent, if any goddess ever is. They teach her to travel their father's body—they play games at the foot, eat and lounge near the stomach, pick at the brain for knowledge, look through the eyes for a sight other than the dull one they are subject to view.

Once upon a time, a godling had organs for company—his father's heart for a wife and lungs as best friends. This has changed over the years, as the immortal becomes disgusted by what they represent as his siblings fall down to accompany him. Once upon a time, a goddess had her sisters for companionship and her brothers flocked her, save one.

Once upon a time, a goddess becomes intrigued by her lonely brother. "Hades," her sister whispers softly, as if the name itself will summon its' owner, "the unseen." The lady is puzzled. Unseen? She purses her lip in confusion, though the others think it is for another reason entirely. Unseen? The goddess always knows where he is—always near, but as untouchable as her shadow, and just as dark.

The godling is always too timid to approach—has forgotten how to hold up a conversation with others, and never really learned how in the first place—and, once upon a time, a goddess, in her youth, leaves her brother to his loneliness and lets him be.

.

Once upon a time, there is a war. Sons fight their father, daughters free their mother. The sons—three of them, all immortal and strong and beautiful—lock up their father, banish him to the fiery pits of hell where he belongs. The daughters—numbers the same, and their descriptions as well—save their mother from a tyrant, shower her with love and affection afterwards.

Once upon a time, this war has a victory. The celebration is lavish, with decadent food that the saviors have never tasted—not in the proper way, at full potential. Godly refreshments are delectable. The decorations are quite pleasing to the eye, as well. Rich golds mixed with white, light pinks and baby blues, hints of rich purples and deep greens. The heroes have never seen so many colors, only red and pink and the colors of foods that they could not name—and black. Everywhere black. It surrounded them, suffocated them, and sometimes they—the godling especially—drowned in it.

Once upon a time, a man asks, "Won't the beautiful lady grace me with her presence?" For that is her name—_Hera_, for _beautiful lady_. This man (not Hades, won't the storybook ending wish it were Hades?) is Zeus, and earlier that very same night he was crowned king of the gods. _He is young, arrogant, foolish_, the godling things, rightfully so. _My brother believes he is better, for Mother saved him, and not another of her children. He is quite high-and-mighty, for a boy raised by naiads and worshipped by trees._

The goddess accepts this dance—and, once upon a time, a fairytale crumbles.


End file.
